World Water Day: March 22

Mary Beth Leavens

Communications and Outreach Associate for The Freshwater Trust

The United Nations dedicated March 22 as World Water Day in 1993. Since then, nonprofits, individuals and businesses across the globe have devoted today to learning about the resource, raising awareness, and taking action for its sustainable management, restoration, and protection.

In honor of the 24th year, we’ve prepared a collection of 24 lesser-known facts about this invaluable resource.

The Freshwater Trust’s hopes for this day are two-fold. First, that you’ll read through these facts, find one or two that resonate with you, and share them widely. Then, make a donation to keep The Freshwater Trust working for water every single day.

As the facts attest, water impacts every sector of the economy. Neither product nor living thing survives without. With your support, The Freshwater Trust develops and implements innovative solutions as powerful and holistic as water itself.

Watershed health:

Intact floodplains and riparian areas enable healthy watersheds to be better adapted to more extreme weather patterns and changes in precipitation associated with climate change.

1 in 6 gallons of water leak from utility pipes before reaching customers in the United States.

Vegetation:

Streamside vegetation can decrease solar load by millions of kilocalories a day and prevent hundreds of pounds of harmful chemicals like phosphorus and nitrogen per year from entering rivers and streams.

One mile of streamside vegetation can block up to 70,000 lbs of sediment from entering the stream per year.

Wastewater:

The average American uses about 160 gallons of water per day, the average European uses about 50 gallons of water per day, and the average resident of sub-Saharan Africa uses 2 to 5 gallons of water per day.